Life After Death
by SamNny
Summary: With everyone's debt being paid off, and their lives being restored, it's finally time for them to move on. But while everyone else is busy getting their lives together, Chika finds himself clinging onto a four-eyed Gopher. Chichiru with implied Shiyomi.


"_Oh, you can let this one go, you can try on your own, but I want you to be here." _– Parachute

* * *

The amount of time that has passed from then till now is hazy at best, superbly unclear in this cluttered space. They had locked themselves away together for just over two years in total, working round the clock to pay off their debt. It was amazing, really, to see what they had accomplished when all things were considered. From the beginning of their story, to the faux ending, to their new start, all the way until now.

Their first year together was clumsy and trying, highly unorganized, and seemingly running in circles. The constant bickering, the argued uselessness, and the lack of teamwork made zombie hunting quite nightmarish and, at times, completely impossible. It took the clock resetting and seven weeks of Michiru's persistent pestering to re-establish order and harmony to the Z-Loan office. Everything that happened after that was just a blur of wonderful memories, albeit sometimes painful, for the black and white haired teen.

But despite everything, Chika worked endlessly with Shito and Michiru to become human again, and about three months before graduation, all their hard work paid off. Shito decided to stick out their last few months of high school together before moving back to China. A shy and hopeless Koyomi would be tagging along with him. Chika thought it was hilarious that a woman as interesting and complex as her would want to tag along with someone as boring and dull as his former partner. But he was happy, he supposed, that everything worked out in the end. Besides, opposites attract, and, well… they were both perfect for each other given enough Fanta.

But as muggy and undefined as their relationship was, they had set plans for their future. Given how long Shito had been alive and the prestigious family that Koyomi came from, neither one of them had to attend University to make a living for themselves. Chika, on the other hand, had no such luck. He wasn't a genius by any means, his grades were average at best, and he most certainly did not come from a well-off family. His only options were to study like Hell to gain admissions into the local University or go out and get a better paying job. He might have liked working at the convenience store, but minimum wage was most definitely not going to pay the rent at a legitimate apartment.

But he decided that until he got himself in order, he'd just move back home with his family. He wasn't too keen on seeing his cross-dressing father every day, but he'd put up with it if it meant being with Momoka. She was the light of his life, his whole world, and he was more than ecstatic to be reunited with her. His old bedroom had been preserved, all he had to do was bring back his clothes and the few possessions he had. It had been a long time since he'd eaten a home cooked meal with his family, all of them sitting around the table. It was something he had looked forward to.

Even with all of the changes, though, he, Shito, and Michiru still stayed together. It wasn't at all like it had been, they weren't as close anymore. Once their debt was repaid, everyone kind of made an instantaneous split. Shito and Michiru still lived in the dorms, Shito not having anywhere to go until after graduation, and Michiru still trying to find permanent housing. She, too, was looking for a job, but she also mentioned wanting to attend University in the near future. Still, they rallied together and had lunch on a regular basis. Chika lied every time they met, saying that he only still hung around them 'cause he had nothing better to do. Everyone rolled their eyes at his childish response, but no one quite figured out how distraught he really was.

He had no problems adjusting to being moved out, but he was a little disappointed to not see all his friends sitting around the table on the weekend, drinking Fanta, and him trying to convince them to play "Umo" with him. What really hit him hard, though, was not having anywhere to turn when he didn't want to be alone at night. He still couldn't shake the feeling of loneliness that he had on occasion. It didn't work all the time, but if the Gopher wouldn't let him crash in her room, Shito typically did. It wasn't because he liked him or anything; he was just usually too tired to pick a fight after awhile. He wouldn't dare seek out his father and Momoka slept with her door shut and locked. Something about being a teenage woman who needed her space and privacy.

So Chika realized very quickly that everything had its drawbacks. If it stung him to not be around everyone he'd ever cared about for the past two years, how would he handle graduation? With Shito leaving and Koyomi going with him, he wasn't left with very much. Bekko would be closing the Z-Loan office soon, what with the old man and the undertaker being close to paying off their debts as well, and then Yuuta would be going with him. They would either relocate or disband completely. Either way, the only person remaining would be Michiru.

She hasn't said anything about moving far away, but Chika supposed that all depended on where she found work and where she wanted to go to school. She was just kind of an unknown factor at this point. Still, she was the closest person to him at the moment, and all of his sitting around and thinking about her made him scared. Because contrary to popular belief, he genuinely cared about and liked every person that he lived with in the dorms. Shito wasn't the most ideal person in the world, and he pissed him off more than anything, but he was a good friend and a great partner. With Michiru as their eyes, they were a force to be reckoned with.

But he could accept him moving away, he understood his reasons. It only made sense that he'd want to go back. They promised to stay in contact, come visit every once in awhile, the whole nine yards. Even Shito would admit to liking Chika to an extent, just not to his face. Sotetsu had been long gone for some time now, having been the first out of all of them to fulfill his contract. He moved to God knows where with his flock of women. Last Chika knew, he was traveling all over Japan on that stupid bike of his, picking up and dropping off his "dates" as he went along. That bastard was probably doing well for himself.

But the one person that really made an impact on him was the Gopher. Part of him wanted to just waltz up to her and tell her that it would be just the two of them now. That with everyone going off in separate directions, they were all that each other had. But he knew that she was aware of him living back with his family and she told him many times that she was happy for him. He had gotten what he wanted most of all. He was able to go back home, his father and sister never even knew about his accident or his becoming a zombie. He got away with everything and restored his life. It was wonderful and he knew it.

He asked her just the other day what she had planned for after graduation. She said that she had a couple of job interviews lined up, but that was it. She would be staying with some friends until she could find a job and move into an apartment. "Once I get some stability and money coming in," she said, "then I'll start thinking about school." He wanted to just bombard her with a zillion questions. Where does she want to go to school, where does she want to live, what kind of job does she want to get, would she consider staying here with him-! That last thought had caught him completely off guard.

He had thought about it over and over again, trying to rationalize why he wanted her stay by his side so badly. Sure, he thought of Michiru as a good friend of his, seeing as how they spent the past two years killing zombies and almost dying together. They had a pretty strong bond, stronger than any normal friendship anyway. He tried to tell himself that it was because everyone else was leaving and he wanted _someone_ from that time to still be around. He also concluded that due to his accident happening not long after he started high school, he didn't make any friends due to his condition. It had always been just him and Shito, they didn't want anyone getting too close and finding out about them. So without others as friends, Michiru really would be all he had.

He really enjoyed teasing her, she always had the best reactions, and she was always a good sport about it. She could never really stay mad at him, so they didn't have prolonged periods of distress. She was comfortable and good company, if he had to admit it. He enjoyed the rare occasions where they would cook dinner together, or her constantly barging into his room to help him with his laundry and scolding him to clean up after himself. He would sprawl out on his bed and lazily watch as she piled everything up and somehow magically put everything away. He would poke fun at her and laugh as her cheeks turned bright red from anger and embarrassment.

He thought she was cutest when she was focused. It didn't have to be intensely focused or something, not like the look she got when she was taking make-up tests and trying to frantically complete all of her homework on time. She and Shito both took all of that make-up stuff seriously, realizing that they missed too much school to go zombie hunting, so this was their only hope to pass their classes. Regardless, he loved how zoned in she got, because she would always swipe at her hair to keep it out of her face, even though it would fall back right after. Her lips would curve into the slightest pout when she was stuck on something or really thinking. And she had beautiful handwriting; it was clear and legible, but still loopy and feminine.

Don't even get him started on how cute she was when she tried doing all of that and she was tired. It was far too much for him to handle. But when it dawned on him, he quickly tried to deny all previous thoughts of her cuteness. He tried arguing with himself that she was ordinary. Her hair was uneven, she wore big nerdy glasses, she was virtually flat-chested, and she thought that chibi Grim Reaper's stabbing her in the face with their scythe was absolutely adorable. What's to like about that?

Sure, she was smart, good for conversation, understanding, had small, delicate hands that could fit into his own, legs that went on for days, a smile that could light up an entire room… and soft… reassuring olive eyes that he could drown in… She was totally bland! So what if she had some attractive… alluring… captivating features… it didn't mean she was special. She was only an average cook, she was a bit too much of a neat freak, she wasn't athletic at all, she sucked at playing every kind of game imaginable, and she was extremely gullible.

Of course, it could be argued that she made up for all those things with her shinigami eyes and her drastically improved perception of illegal zombies. She never put up a fight when it was time to go on a dangerous mission, and although she screamed in terror like a little girl, she still exuded an impressive amount of bravery and courage. She would rush blindly into a situation if she thought someone was in danger and she always put up a good fight. For a girl with no weapon, no fighting experience, and at times, not much common sense, she did very well for herself.

And she was always worried about everyone else. She was a selfless person. He really liked that about her. And the more Chika really thought about it, the more he realized that she was unlike any woman he'd ever met. She was a people pleaser at times, but she was sincerely honest. She always did the best she could and tried harder than anyone to come out of every situation with a smile. And there was something about her that always seemed to calm him. Even though she didn't realize it, it was usually something she did or said after they suffered a big loss, or after some stupid fight with Shito, that cleared his head and let him come back home. She was extremely influential and he didn't know how or when that happened.

So now it was graduation day and everyone had just finished walking the stage. Their big moment was finally over, they each held in their hand their freedom from this incredibly boring educational institution. He had just finished shaking Shito's hand, then pulling him in for a hug which earned him a smack to the back of the head. He and Michiru stood side by side as they waved goodbye to their friends.

"I can't believe they're leaving so soon," muttered the pinkette to his left. "Are you kidding me, that jackass has had his bags packed for weeks now. Of course they're already gone." Michiru could sense the bitterness in his tone, but she knew that it was just as hard for him to watch them leave as it was for her. They'd been so close for what seemed like forever now that she couldn't believe it was all finally over. "As much as I'm going to miss them, I'm glad that they promised to keep in touch with us." Chika couldn't help but pull out his phone as she spoke, searching through his contacts to confirm that he still had everyone's phone number.

Chika would normally make some half-assed comment about not wanting to hear from his loser of an ex-partner, but he just didn't have it in him. The more seconds that passed by, the more he felt like everything was falling apart around him. He told himself over and over again that he could handle this. He really was fine with Shito leaving, he was fine that Koyomi went with him, he was fine that Bekko and the others would soon be leaving (at least it wasn't all at once, right?), but he _wasn't _fine with this. This moment, at this very instant, he watched as his Gopher waved to her other friends. She would be leaving with them today as well. They all had plans to move into an apartment on the other side of town. Michiru had already quit her job at the convenience store and everything.

It didn't really matter that after their debt was paid off, Bekko had bought her a cell phone. It was an act of kindness, he said, but everyone knew he included it with her debt. It was a nice gesture all the same. But regardless of all that, it felt like if he just let her walk away with them, he would lose her forever. And it dawned on him very quickly that even if he could stand living his life without the others, he couldn't stand it without her.

She wasn't the prettiest woman in the whole world, or even the smartest, or most talented, but she was the only four-eyed Gopher he knew. That made her special. That made her important. So when she turned back to him to say goodbye, he wouldn't have it. "Oi, Gopher! You said we were friends, right?" Michiru blinked in both bewilderment and confusion at the taller man. "If that's true… if you meant that, then you won't leave me behind!"

"What do you mean, Chika-kun?" She couldn't help but wonder where all of this was coming from. She knew that he was coping with all of these changes in his own way, but she hadn't expected something like this. "You have my phone number and you know where I'll be saying. I'll still talk to you, so-" she was abruptly cut off. "No, that's not what I mean!" His face turned bright red as he forced himself to maintain eye contact with her. This was just as hard as he thought it would be. At least Shito wasn't here anymore to make matters even worse. He'd hang this over his head even if they died again.

"What do you mean then?" Michiru was getting all sorts of motions and vocalized requests to hurry it along so she and her friends could get going, but she raised her hand at them to wait. She knew that whatever Chika had to say, it was very important to him. She just wasn't expecting it to be so… so… "What I mean is, just getting a text or two from you every so often isn't the same. We went through a lot together since this whole thing began and I don't want to lose the friends that I made. It's different if it's everyone else, but with you… with you… Ah, look, just call me sometime, alright? I still want to see you."

His subtle message went unconveyed to her, but she blushed and smiled at him all the same. "Yeah, you, too. I want to see you as well. Maybe after I get all settled in and find a job, we can save up some money and go visit Shito-kun and Koyomi-san?"

Realizing that she didn't quite get what he meant, he hung his head. Gopher was dense, he supposed, but that was alright with him for now. As long as he could see her, as long as they could still be together, he decided that he'd muster up his courage again some other day. "That sounds like a great idea." he said as a smile crawled its way to his face.

* * *

"A/N: Oh, my God! It took so long for me to finally get a decent idea to write a Zombie-Loan fic about. Everything I thought of was too cheesy, too overdone, too stupid… ugh! It just occurred to me that I'd yet to find a story that wasn't an AU that was set after they paid off their debt. If such a story already exists, then I'm not as special as I thought I was (sad face). Also, the part where I mentioned Zarame, you can either interpret that as they met him again and he became chibified or it was just a story that Michiru told them to remind them that they all knew each other and worked together. Anyway, long story short, please leave a review and tell me what you think."


End file.
